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Re: Bulk honey prices and market outlook

Packers will get very little honey at the above prices.2009 honey crop estimates are along ways from being made public but I bet the crop is below average in both Canada and the USA. A Canadian honey broker estimated the Canadian crop at 30 -40 million lbs last month ,down from a normal 60 -70 million lb crop
It will take a packer like Sue to start buying on the open market and the price will rise dramatically. The 5 or 6 major US packers are tied pretty close together and able to keep prices where they want them,where as in Canada, honey has been selling this spring at 1.75-1.80, well above the current offerings of US packers even when you take in account of the Canadian peso
There is a WORLD shortage of honey, there is a greater shortage of white honey and it will be reflected in the price in the coming months

One only has to go to the national honey board site to to see that this rise in the honey price has begun http://www.honey.com/honeyindustry/s...mpCIF02-06.htm, the packers cannot suppress this info but they are doing one fine job of delaying it..... average price of imported honey is 4 months behind

Re: Bulk honey prices and market outlook

One of the largest producers in Sask. is reporting his crop is down about 60 per cent He says he has never had a year this bad. He is in the Sask honey belt. We are further South and our first pull was a way down. The second has been a little better but things are slowing down fast. We are not in a rush to sell as we think when the totals come in production is going to be a way down.

Re: Bulk honey prices and market outlook

I've produced and sold 47,000 pounds in the past 3 week. Sale price $1.65-1.75 for bulk barrel and bucket honey. I'm getting offers on my comb honey for $3.20 lb for comb honey in the super.
I've been in the business a long time and have never moved honey to the small packers before like this. Most of my smaller packer are reporting there sales up a 1/3 in the pass two years. It's always nice to see the little guys making it.
I called two big packers two weeks ago to check on prices and the quotes was 1.39, and the other 1.45 for white honey. Because of the big packers sandbagging, they already losted out on one of my semi loads. The way it looks my crop is going to be 10-12 ton short this year.
At these prices the shortage is OK. There always next year.

Re: Bulk honey prices and market outlook

The gov't advance crop payment program is ,I believe set at 1.00/lb for the 2009 crop year.This is open to all producers and Beemaid partakes in this offering also, ...so the initial payment will be at least1.00/lb and most likely more...........but then again my forecasts have been known to be wrong
Beemaid 1 kilo creamed honey on the store shelf is over $12

Re: Bulk honey prices and market outlook

Initial payment of 70 cents, as is the advance as far as I understood,
I would like to expect to see 1.5 - 1.75 $ final payment, but then that all depends on how long the stronge market holds. Who knows, perhaps 2$ isnt too far off our expectations,
looking at Argentina, again entering a very dry season. Certianly not expecting to see the production comming out of there like 4 years ago

Re: Bulk honey prices and market outlook

I stand corrected, thankyou Ian, crop advance payment for 2009 honey is.70/lb
Don't know what made me think it was 1.00........... wishfull thinking , maybe, but then again what can you buy for a dollar or for that matter what can you get for 70 cents.
That is approximately half of what the current market prices are at

Looking at BeeMaids $12.69 FOR 1 kilogram ( 2.2 lBS) that works out to $5.768 /LB ...pricey eh! Top quality Canadian honey should command a top price on the store shelf or in the drum Beemaid is a little cheaper over at Wallmart where they are going toe to toe with Billy Bee and the Wallmart brand, which is packed in Toronto on Argentine street

Re: Bulk honey prices and market outlook

I've never to the life of figured out why anyone would bee a member of sue? You get paid about 10 or 20 percent on delivery then more later and a little more a few months later then finally the balance about a year later(I use to know the setup but its been a while and I dont remember and it may have changed) THIS IS AFTER THEY RETAIN 10% OF YOUR GROSS for 8 or 10 years for their operating capitol!! Figure if you produce 100,000 lbs of honey and the price is 1.30....they will have 130,000 dollars of YOUR money from now own. How much could you make with that capitol or save in interest payments and as is in the above post you usually get paid less. ALso you are losing the interest on all the payments you dont get immediately! Sure you just call them and they bring you drums and pick up your honey....but as hard as bee work is it is easy to make some phone calls....in fact I would broker honey for 1/2 of what you loose being a member of sue....not to mention they have been caught importing chinese honey and some was found with chlomamphenicol (sP) google seattle times article on honey laundering for details! I dont think anyone should get les than 1.40 if you make some calls. THree different beeks all got 1.65 last week from what I was told.

Re: Bulk honey prices and market outlook

We have had something like 80 years of similar experiences here in Australia. First a Co-Op and (after the beekeepers FINALLY recognised what was going on), a Producer Owned Corporation was formed. As with all new endeavours, it performed beautifully for the producers until the founders retired, then it followed the universal pattern. It is still ticking over, but has lost a massive volume of its dedicated supply base.

Yes, we all love that tasteless honey. Why? Because we can use it to soften up all that rough stuff we buy in cheap. Its all about the dollars, not the taste. Supermarkets love one single line of honey. It must all be the same color, the same general flavour and the same watery consistency. They have no staff present to explain to the customer why every sample of honey coming from the hive has different characteristics.

It's all about the system and the people who run it. It is not about the producer nor the customer. They are entirely taken for granted.

The irony of it is, that individuals within these organisations do work hard and put a lot of effort in trying in to make it work, but the net result is still the same. They just go on down the gurgle like all the previous ones did.

I am hoping a new one will emerge here. Like governments, they are only valid in their infancy and youth. As mature entities, they become a liability as no one is ever responsible for anything and losses are covered up to save face, passing the pain back to the producer and the synthetic honey on to the customer.

It appears that beekeepers are like bees and are socializing creatures by nature. It seems no other philosophy will work for us, so I just wait and hope for the new organisation. Time for a 'swarm' to emerge?

Re: Bulk honey prices and market outlook

No large crop in the USA mid west,going to be a below average crop with some bright spots
No packer offerings quoted, one small lot less than 10 drums sold for 1.75

Marketing your own honey verses say shipping to Sue....... you only have to get burned once, and you can be a dead duck, a load or two you don't get paid for or the price reduced after the buyer receives it ,
you know all the funny little things that can happen when you sell a load of honey.... then that Sue starts to look pretty good... heard their membership has increased the last few years, taking back past producers who were in the bad books with them
Sue saying their price will be 10cents lower than last year..... could the recession be reducing sales ... suppose to be a world shortage, suppose to be a shortage of white honey, Argentina didn't produce no big crop , nor much white honey ...... me thinks it is only a matter of time and the price will be going up... no big crop in Canada either